Mill: Spindle Light

I wanted a spindle light to try and reduce shades on the work as much as possible. So far I'm a pretty big believer in you can have enough light on the work.

People apparently install LED rings in their car's headlights to try and make them look like BMW headlights. So on eBay I found a LED ring with an 80mm diameter, which is about the largest the bottom of the mill's head can accommodate. It cost $22. There were cheaper ones, but I bought this because the LEDs and electronic were sealed, while on others the LEDs were exposed, and I was worried about swarf shorting it out.

I used 5 minute epoxy to glue 4 neodymium magnets to the back of the ring to mount it to the mill. It was then that I discovered the cover surrounding the spindle on the X2 is made from plastic. However, with a bit of maneuvering I managed to get three of the magnets on metal and get the light mostly centered.

Neodymium magnets epoxied to the back of the LED ring.

The wire from the light runs up the left side of the head, to the top of the column, and then down to the control box which houses a simple switch to turn it on and off.

Spindle light mounted and turned on.